Chapter 190: Between You and Me

The rain had indeed slackened, but it was still enough to obscure figures, soak banners, render bows and crossbows useless, and make it nearly impossible to deploy formations properly. So the battle ultimately proceeded in a most unusual fashion.

On the official road south of Wushan, a powerfully built man in full armor, mounted on a large horse and carrying twin blades, gazed ahead at the gray, indistinct mass of the Song army camp and battlefield before Beixinqiao. He sat silently on his horse in the rain, solemn and unspeaking.

This man was Li Cheng.

Now, when the Song court had previously discussed the puppet Qi, they all agreed that after Liu Yu, the three men requiring the most attention were Liu Lin, Li Cheng, and Kong Yanzhou. This was certainly correct. But in truth, when it came to winning the hearts of soldiers and possessing prestige, Kong and Liu were far inferior to Li Cheng. Or rather, from this perspective, Li Cheng and the other two were not even on the same level.

Although they had crossed the river and launched a rain-soaked surprise attack, that didn't mean Li Cheng's troops had no place to spend the night. Beixinqiao was a key crossing point on the Ji River, and about three or four li away was a small settlement that had formed due to trade and transport. However, after several previous movements of Jin troops and the recent great battle at Pingyin, the local populace had long since scattered. Regardless, it was a natural place to take shelter from the rain.

Yet, though Li Cheng had arrived in the middle of the night, occupied the settlement, driven out the forward troops stationed there, and moved his own elite central army in to rest, he himself came out in person to bivouac in the rain alongside the forward soldiers. When dawn came and battle began at the front, even though he knew full well that ordinary soldiers couldn't see his form clearly in the rain, he still straightened his back on his horse and stood tall in the downpour.

He truly had the bearing of a great general.

Of course, someone could still see this display. Hong Ya, the puppet Qi chancellor sent to oversee the army, had finished resting in the small settlement. He rode out on horseback, holding an umbrella, to find Li Cheng. Seeing this scene from behind, he first put away his umbrella, hung it on his horse, let himself be drenched in the rain for a while, and only then urged his horse forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Li Cheng.

Now, Li Cheng of the Twin Blades was renowned throughout the land for his martial arts. How sharp was his eyesight? He had already glimpsed the "Chancellor's" form but pretended not to notice.

After all, this Hong Ya was not merely the chancellor of the Great Qi. There were rumors that he was originally a trusted confidant of the Jin Right Vice-Marshal, Talan, and had even saved Talan's life. Some said that when Talan was defeated and fled to Changshe, it was this very man who had gathered the remnants and held things together.

And when Talan retreated to Hebei, this man was ordered to go to Great Ming Prefecture to negotiate the establishment of the Great Qi with the Jin Chancellor and Grand Marshal, Nianhan. There, he caught Nianhan's eye. So when the Great Qi was established, this Hong Ya was appointed chancellor directly from Great Ming Prefecture. In other words, he was not just a chancellor of the Great Qi, nor merely the supervisor of Li Cheng's Qingzhou army on this campaign. He was more like a supervisor sent by the Great Jin to oversee the Great Qi!

Facing this man, even Liu Yu, the emperor of the Great Qi, had to yield three-tenths of the way. So logically, Li Cheng should also yield three-tenths.

However, Li Cheng, the lord of the three prefectures of Qingzhou, Mizhou, and Weizhou, and the so-called Grand Commander of Qi, was no ordinary military man. He had understood from the start that a warlord and military chieftain like himself, without any real foundation, needed political backing to survive and thrive, and then seize the right opportunity to gradually grow stronger. So towards this Chancellor Hong, he maintained an attitude of yielding five-tenths.

"Grand Commander, you have worked hard," Hong Ya urged his horse to Li Cheng's side and spoke calmly. "How goes the battle at the front?"

"Chancellor Hong, you have also worked hard!" Li Cheng replied with equal calm. "The battle at the front is not going well."

Hong Ya was slightly startled. He looked at the chaotic camp ahead with some hesitation. "How can you tell? Can you see the battle situation so clearly, Grand Commander? Or is there some trick I don't understand?"

"It's no profound mystery," Li Cheng continued sternly. "I run a strict army. This morning, I gave Du Yan a clear order: once he breaks into the enemy camp by a hundred paces and seizes the palisades and camp gates, he must immediately sound the horn. At that signal, my central army, which has rested all night, will surge forward in one go. Du Yan wouldn't dare disobey. But so far, I haven't heard the horn."

"I see. So it's still a stalemate, a tug-of-war," Hong Ya stroked his beard and sighed. "After the battle of Changshe, Song army morale soared. Even their fear of the Jin has diminished by three-tenths. And yesterday, meeting them suddenly in the rain, our plan to pretend to be Jin troops failed."

"The best case is a stalemate around the palisades," Li Cheng ignored the latter part of the other's rambling and made a direct analysis. "The worst case is that this Song army is exceptionally elite, blocking Du Yan's Mizhou troops at the edge of the camp and inflicting casualties in an orderly fashion. If that happens, the Mizhou troops might not be able to withstand the losses, and Du Yan will have to come and beg forgiveness before his forces collapse!"

"I see."

Hong Ya couldn't help but take another look at Li Cheng, but he didn't lose his composure because of the other's words. After all, who among them hadn't experienced defeat? The key was that Li Cheng spoke so calmly about such matters, which made one both suspicious of his intentions and yet more respectful of him.

Regardless, he certainly had the bearing of a great general!

However, just as Hong Ya was lost in thought, a face-slapping event occurred. Through the thin curtain of rain, countless Qi troops—Du Yan's Mizhou soldiers—suddenly came surging back like a tidal wave. The commotion was so great that even in the rain, one could glimpse its scale.

Li Cheng was visibly startled, then his face darkened. He waved his hand slightly to the side.

Following the Grand Commander of Qi's signal, several hundred cavalrymen who had been waiting on both sides of the official road suddenly emerged from the rain. Now, Chancellor Hong had certainly noticed this personal guard cavalry of Grand Commander Li long before, but only now did he observe that these cavalrymen were not only fully armored but each also carried a long-poled, single-edged saber. The blade was over two feet long. Now, with the blades drawn, even in the rain, they gleamed brightly—a truly astonishing sight!

Immediately, this cavalry unit, ignoring the muddy and slippery ground, formed into a line and spurred their horses forward. The officers brought up the rear, shouting for the routed soldiers to turn back and re-form their ranks. But the majority of the long-saber cavalry rode calmly and unhurriedly towards the fleeing soldiers. As soon as they made contact with the routed formation, they began to cut them down mercilessly.

For a time, on the official road beneath the southern slopes of Wushan, severed limbs and torsos were scattered everywhere. The noise this caused was even greater than the sounds of the previous battle, and the wails of agony were particularly chilling.

Regardless, the routed troops were quickly reorganized. The soldiers who had pursued them from the Song camp in front of the bridge immediately abandoned the chase and turned back to hold their position.

The situation stabilized somewhat. Li Cheng, unhurried, first glanced at Hong Ya beside him. Seeing that the man's expression remained unchanged and he was instead stroking his beard and sighing, Li Cheng's respect for him grew by another two-tenths.

"Chancellor Hong, please wait a moment." After a short while, several long-saber cavalrymen, their gleaming blades in hand, drove a well-armored officer forward. Seeing this, Li Cheng first apologized to Hong Ya for the trouble, then turned back and sternly addressed the officer before his horse. "Wu Shun, where is Du Yan? Why have you been defeated so badly?"

"Brother Du is dead!" Wu Shun prostrated himself in the mud before the horse, drenched by rain, his feet stuck in the mire, panting heavily—a truly wretched sight. With several long sabers at his side and Li Cheng before him, he had no choice but to explain hastily. "Let the Grand Commander know, it's not that we didn't do our utmost. It's that this Song army is no ordinary force. They are the Imperial Guard, the trusted confidants of His Majesty the Emperor! So although they are only two thousand strong, they have held our five or six thousand Mizhou troops at bay for two days straight..."

Li Cheng and Hong Ya, who had been maintaining their composed postures, finally changed color together. They had crossed the river for a sneak attack, come through the rain, and fought a sudden battle for a day and a night. With only scattered intelligence, how could they have been certain of the identity of this elite force ahead?

In fact, back at Yanggu, Zhang Maode had only thought they were the "Imperial Army" from the Eastern Capital, not knowing they were the Imperial Guard.

In the end, unless one had direct or indirect contact with that Emperor, who could believe that the Emperor of the Zhao Song dynasty would be willing to throw his own Imperial Guard into battle as expendables?

Back to the present, Li and Hong changed color together. Hong Ya quickly regained his composure, but Li Cheng couldn't help but shout sternly from his horse: "How do you know they are the Imperial Guard?"

"Let the Grand Commander know, the government troops declared it themselves!" Wu Shun hurriedly kowtowed and answered again. "We fought for most of the morning, thinking we could wear them down. But when both sides were exhausted, a general from the other side led his personal guard warriors, who had long been hidden behind the frontline Imperial Guard soldiers. No matter how fierce the fighting at the front, they didn't move. Then, when my elder brother ordered the frontline troops to rotate, they suddenly charged out, heading straight for my elder brother. Caught off guard, he was beheaded by that general! It was only then that the warriors beside him shouted out, saying that the one who killed my elder brother was Yang Yizhong, the Commander of the Imperial Guard and Head of the Imperial City Bureau!"

Li Cheng instinctively sneered: "How do you know they weren't just bluffing you defeated soldiers? If you hadn't heard it was the Imperial Guard, would you have collapsed so completely?"

"It's no bluff. It's almost certainly true." Just then, Hong Ya suddenly spoke, delivering a verdict.

Li Cheng turned his head, slightly startled: "Chancellor Hong...?"

"If Yang Yizhong is here, he must have received direct orders from that Zhao Song Emperor," Hong Ya replied, looking proud and disdainful. "I, Hong, am not talented, but I was personally defeated by that Zhao Song Emperor at Changshe. That day beneath the walls of Changshe, I saw the Emperor's dragon banner from afar and, like Grand Commander Li, did not believe it. I personally led a hundred cavalry through the formations to see the truth. When I reached the dragon banner, half of my hundred riders were dead or wounded, but I saw clearly. From that day on, I knew that the temperament of that Emperor in the Eastern Capital was nothing like a descendant of the Zhao clan! And today, Yang Yizhong leading the Imperial Guard here fits perfectly!"

Li Cheng was still hesitant.

Hong Ya, unhurried, stroked his beard and sneered: "Even if the Grand Commander doesn't trust me, Hong, you should trust the fifteen *meng'an* that were annihilated before the walls of Changshe!"

Li Cheng finally became solemn: "So, the troops ahead are truly the Imperial Guard?"

Hong Ya sneered again: "I know the Son of Heaven of the Zhao Song, so I am willing to believe it!"

Li Cheng looked up to the sky and sighed: "If that's the case, won't this battle become much more difficult?"

Hong Ya was slightly taken aback. He squinted at the other man: "Grand Commander, what do you mean by that?"

Li Cheng immediately responded with emotion: "Chancellor Hong, think about it. The Imperial Guard is the cream of the empire's troops, how elite they are! If they are determined to hold their ground, how can we possibly break through easily?"

"We have twenty thousand men, and the enemy camp, judging by its size, has only one or two thousand. They haven't set up camp across the river but are holding a camp with their backs to the river. Even if they are elite, how can they withstand attrition?" Hong Ya laughed dismissively. "Didn't we wear down two or three hundred of them in the sudden battle yesterday? Even with today's rout of the Mizhou troops, didn't we inflict casualties?"

Li Cheng finally laughed as well: "Chancellor Hong, I'm not saying we can't fight through. I'm saying that even if we wear down the Imperial Guard, which is so elite, we will have lost the opportunity. Besides, they should have sent for reinforcements yesterday. By the time we've worn them down, reinforcements might have already arrived."

Hong Ya continued stroking his beard and smiling: "If that's the case, why don't we leave the Mizhou troops to watch this Imperial Guard, and we force a crossing downstream at Huajiakou, attacking Pingyin from the flank?"

Li Cheng shook his head repeatedly, still smiling: "The Mizhou troops have just suffered such a defeat. How can they keep the Imperial Guard in check?"

Hong Ya finally stopped smiling: "So, you're saying we might as well withdraw back to Liaocheng on the north bank of the Yellow River?"

This was a vicious remark. If twenty thousand troops had hurried across the Yellow River only to be driven back to the north bank by two thousand Imperial Guards in two days, the Jin troops on the north bank might very well finish Li Cheng off right there in Liaocheng!

However, upon hearing this, Li Cheng also became serious. But instead of replying hastily, he gave a slight nod to the several long-saber cavalrymen before him. They understood. The one in the best position, with the best angle, swung his saber down at the neck of the man beneath the horse. Right before the eyes of Li Cheng and Hong Ya, Wu Shun, the second-in-command of the Mizhou army, was summarily executed, his head falling to the ground.

Wu Shun had been lying on the ground listening to the two great men talk, thinking he had already found a way to survive. Just a moment ago, when they mentioned the Mizhou troops watching the Imperial Guard, he had even been about to volunteer. But Li Cheng had immediately objected, so he had remained prostrate and motionless.

And then? He lost his life in an instant!

In the end, this man had forgotten that Li Cheng ran a strict army. Leaving aside the defeat itself, the fact that Wu Shun had failed to rally the troops after the commander's death was a capital offense.

Back to the present, the head rolled before the horses of Li and Hong. The body spurted warm blood, splattering the mud around the horses' front hooves into a bloody red. The long-saber cavalrymen didn't even glance at it as they turned and returned to their ranks.

Li Cheng, however, kept his eyes fixed on Hong Ya the entire time. Seeing that the man remained unafraid, he made up his mind and finally spoke frankly: "Chancellor Hong, let me be honest with you. You only know about that Zhao Song Emperor, but you don't know about another person. I only knew about that other person before, but I didn't know about the Zhao Song Emperor. That's why we both came here with a shred of hope. Now that we are here, at this moment, we should open our hearts to each other and understand our respective paths forward."

Hong Ya just stroked his beard and said nothing.

And Li Cheng didn't keep them in suspense: "In this battle, I was initially dismissive, because others thought that this Yue Pengju was young, and that integrating the hundred thousand troops of the Eastern Capital Rear Guard into fifty or sixty thousand would inevitably cause chaos. Even if there was no chaos, there would be internal difficulties, making it hard to march and fight. But I knew his ability... That's why I stayed put in Liaocheng for so long, only making up my mind to cross the river when the sky turned overcast and I felt we could achieve a quick victory! But who could have expected to encounter this?"

Hong Ya was slightly moved, then replied: "This Yue Pengju did cross blows with me back in Changshe, but he was only one of many generals, not particularly outstanding. I wonder how his ability compares to Han Shizhong's?"

"I have not seen Han Shizhong, so I cannot be convinced of his worth." Li Cheng answered frankly. "But I have seen Yue Pengju, and in both martial skill and bearing, I was overshadowed by him! I dare not say I am fully convinced, but I trust his capability enough to know he is a man not to be underestimated!"

Hong Ya hesitated for a moment, and seeing no one nearby, he spoke bluntly: "What does the Grand Viceroy intend to do? Could it be that you think both the Son of Heaven of Zhao Song and the commander before us are men of stature, that we are certain to lose this battle, and that we might as well waste time here and wait to see how things turn out?"

"Yes and no!" Li Cheng replied solemnly. "If we are blocked here and cannot dislodge or force back these Imperial Personal Guards before noon, then the overall situation in the Dongping campaign will be completely ruined. But how can a commander shrink from battle? If I wanted to retreat, I would never have gone to Liaocheng to await orders in the first place..."

"What exactly does the Grand Viceroy intend to do? Please speak plainly!" Hong Ya grew impatient and urged him directly.

"I intend to personally lead the elite troops beside me in a fierce assault on the enemy ahead. If we can defeat them and drive them back before noon, we will proceed from here or downstream to continue besieging Pingyin." Li Cheng answered bluntly. "And if that cannot be done, then forgive me for speaking frankly—the two of us might as well waste some time here and watch how things develop... After all, the Great Jin Kingdom has tens of thousands of troops right behind us in Great Ming Prefecture, so they can't possibly let Jinan Prefecture fall, can they?"

Hong Ya finally reined in his horse and laughed again: "If that's the case, then let me witness the Grand Viceroy's ability!"

Having received the Army Supervisor's promise and freed from political worries, Li Cheng said nothing more. Bare-handed, he urged his warhorse forward, passing over the broken bodies before him. The several hundred long-saber cavalry around him, following the orderly commands of their officers, spurred their horses and followed.

For a moment, though Li Cheng had only a few hundred riders on either side, they advanced and halted in perfect order. Their long sabers stood like a forest, and amid the slackening rain, they formed a presence all their own.

As for the Great Qi Chancellor Hong Ya, he paused slightly behind this man, first glancing at the severed head lying right before his horse's hoof, then staring coldly at the other's back. He barely suppressed a scholar's instinctive disgust for such martial men of this chaotic era, then spurred his horse forward to observe the outcome.

PS: I feel like I need some time to find my rhythm...